stimulus - building products impact

Items of note:

About $6.6 billion will be spent on building 20,000 new "social housing dwellings'' and 802 new homes for defence personnel.

There will also be urgent maintenance to upgrade 2500 vacant houses so they can be used for social housing.

A new scheme to make homes more energy efficient will cost $3.9 billion with the government promising to install free ceiling insulation in 2.7 million homes.

Every one of the nation's 9540 schools will get up to $200,000 for maintenance and minor building works as part of a $14.7 billion scheme that will also provide money for 500 schools to build new science labs and language learning centres in needy high schools while primary and special schools may get new or refurbished libraries and multipurpose halls.